Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

Here goes nothing. Tonight is their first night outside. The ladies are four weeks old. They haven't been spending much time under their heating pad, even with it set on level 1 for the last week. But the room they were in is far from cold. Tonight is supposed to be 38 degrees. I have their MHP in the new coop and it is set on 4. Hopefully it will be enough. They all have a good amount of feathers so they should be fine. Tomorrow I will finish their run so then they can start to spend more time outside during they day as well.

Oh my yes. They should be absolutely fine! They look very well feathered and probably won't even use the pad at all, unless they get a little spooked and want "mama" for hiding out! Nice job!

My first chicks were evicted to outside permanently with no supplemental heat by 5.5 weeks and the coop wasn't even finished yet! Oh, I gave them a heat lamp the first night...they didn't use it. They snuggled down in a pile in front of the pop door nowhere near it, and it got down to 20 and even lower that night. 20 was just the last reading I saw before I finally collapsed from sheer exhaustion after constantly getting up and running out to check on them. The second night was the same story, although I only got up to check them once that night. The next morning the heat lamp came out. They weren't using it anyway and I was scared to death of fire out there. That night it snowed. We got our last snowfall on June 6th, and the entire time they just kept growing and thriving. THAT'S when I knew enough was enough and decided then and there that from that point on I was never brooding in the house with a heat lamp again. And I haven't!

Sorry I didn't reply, I've been obsessing and redoing the brooder a million times lol well, plus washing another pool out im the dark and scrubbing algae off then bringing it upstairs then putting towels and cardboard down then I put the small one inside the bigger one then shavings on the outside. Now I'm about to take individual day one photos (I know, I need to stop bugging them but I actually let them sleep a while, the light was off for at least an hour after I initially set it up then I've only been in and out a few times (clearing a bunch of stuff to make room for the big pool actually, forgot about that step haha) and they very quickly learned to ignore the light and noise (when i first turned the light back on they made noise again but I've since left it on and they went back to sleep).

I'm actually about to bring the whole thing inside to the upstairs bathroom because I'm sooo worried about them and my mom said I could. She did say they have to go back out though but it's just cause I'm so worried about the mice and the fencing we have won't keep a mouse out and I know they'll chew through cardboard so tonight inside it is (lucky little chicks lol) and then we will naybe buy some hardware cloth or metal sheets and figure something out about the mice haha

OH! and I actually did have escapees! even before MHP and high shavings!!!! Two or three. One I didn't notice and I come back and she's about to go behind a dresser. Lucky I found her. Either BR or BA, not sure, a black one. Then an EE got loose but right next to the pool. THEN! I was doing something next to the pool and next thing I know I have a BO between my legs LOL AND. One of the BO's was on top of the bar on the feeder immediately after putting them in the brooder. I'm gonna have my hands full with these ones, that's for sure..... hahaha

OH! and I actually did have escapees! even before MHP and high shavings!!!! Two or three. One I didn't notice and I come back and she's about to go behind a dresser. Lucky I found her. Either BR or BA, not sure, a black one. Then an EE got loose but right next to the pool. THEN! I was doing something next to the pool and next thing I know I have a BO between my legs LOL AND. One of the BO's was on top of the bar on the feeder immediately after putting them in the brooder. I'm gonna have my hands full with these ones, that's for sure..... hahaha

Click to expand...

when I used swimming pools like that for a brooder I got a second one and cut the bottom out maybe leaving six inches of the bottom in a ring... Then C-Clamped the two to gether... like a Clam... Now you can put window screen on the top and it will contain the little guys...

Oh heck like this:

instead of C clamps you could also use WIdE duct tape.... but the clamps allow you to clean out

Also tried to take pics and after maybe third chick they all came running out and I lost track LOL

AND they started coming to here chick chick, some before food then more when i put food in my hand but besides the first chick they didn't even want the food (well chick was covering it), it was more just hey everyone is over here. Except two porkies kept eating over there lol but then even when i put the food back they wrre al running over, climbing all over me, wanting to be held, very vibrant little chick. And the little disabled one is so friendly and cute. She just comes and stands near and will tilt her head back and sometimes stumble backwards and the poor thing almost falls over then but usually catches herself and straightens her head before she does. But she just comes and stares up with the tiltef back head. It's so cute but so sad. No clue what could cause it but she tries to eat amd peeps loud. Very vibrant just not crazy running around and the tilted head. . Hope she pulls through.

And the chicks are so adorable. When i was setting up the cardboard (which was late poor things), an EE woke up because I was working around the brooder and she went straight to me and I held her a bit, perfectly calm, then out her near the water and she instantly began drinking but she didn't wanna leave my hand and/or didn't quite fit in the corner brick and almost fell twice lol but finally she got off and she just drank and drank and drank then she ate and ate and ate hahaha then one of the black chicks woke up too (I can't tell yet if it's BR or BA, I think BR) and I don't think she drank but then she climbed in the feeder too (I took the bar out, was afraid they'd get caught, food will probably get gross quicker though) and also ate and they were just hanging together. Then they followed me to the high part of the shavings near MHP trying to get out but I put them back and finished the cardboard haha then also actually EE got cold and snuggled next to "mama" while BR was being crazy lol then BR snuggled behind "mama" a bit then wondered what EE was doing and went to where she was instead and snuggled next to her for a second before deciding being UNDER her was best and plowed under her and they both settled there a little while LOL then BR decided she wanted to go back under mama so off she went while EE snuggled back up next to mama and slept again and I believe would have stayed there all night but I know they don't really see well in the dark (also took some flash photos close before accidentally, I'm nervous) so I put her back under MHP (much to her dismay, she tried to climb on top but from under the awning as I put her in lol) before finally turning the lights off at like midnight. Poor chickies. Let's hope they sleep in tomorrow. Lol SO CUTE THOUGH